Biggest tech community stories we covered in 2009

Happy New Year, folks. It’s been an exciting year for us. Though we’ll be celebrating our first birthday in February, we’ve had a chance to take part in Philadelphia’s vibrant technology community for 10 months. We’ve seen the amazing things that this community offered in 2009. Coming up on our 500th published story about this […]

Organizations

Projects

Tags

It’s been an exciting year for us. Though we’ll be celebrating our first birthday in February, we’ve had a chance to take part in Philadelphia’s vibrant technology community for 10 months. We’ve seen the amazing things that this community offered in 2009. Coming up on our 500th published story about this community, we’re proud to be a part of it. And we’re ecstatic to see what lie ahead.

No, Technically Philly has not started its own Mummer troupe. We do, however, want to ring in the new year by taking a look back at our top stories of 2009. Our month-by-month perspective, after the jump.

FEBRUARY

An official welcome to Technically Philly
Hey, a little self-indulgence never hurt a year-end evaluation, right? We launched this here news site in February with every intention of thoughtfully covering the disparate pockets of the technology community in Philadelphia. We had 2,250 views in our first month. In December? We grew that figure to over 18,000. And proud of it.

Chew on Philly’s tech proposals in bailout package
One of our first public service news posts, we took a look at some of the local technology-related projects proposed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors before President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

BREAKING: City Council unanimously approves cell phone driving banAs if anyone needed an example that technology stories — even on the local level — affect broad demographics, here it was. Every cell phone user who ever drove a car suddenly had to rethink what he might do if a call came through during a trip on 95. It speaks to the breadth Philly tech stories can reach.

“To have a tech renaissance, you need universities, which you have here. You need good engineering programs like [Penn and Drexel]. You need a vibrant youth culture and a diverse culture. I think you have all of that criteria here,” he told us.

City launches Web site to track stimulus spendingFor a city government known for its antiquated Web presence, Technically Philly was as excited as any to see Philadelphia launch a site to track stimulus spending. It’s a wealth of information about bailout funds in the region.

IgnitePhilly packs Johnny Brendas – againPopular event series IgnitePhilly filled Fishtown’s Johnny Brendas to capacity for the third time since it began in 2008, and we dished out awards to some of the best spots of the night. Sandwich blog Unbreaded took top honors while Two Guys On Beer received accolades for the funniest presentation of the night, and Viddler’s Rob Sandie was awarded” with pride, not prize” for the best sales pitch.

AUGUST

DreamIt Ventures Demo Day 2009: our awardsIt’s no surprise to you, reader, that startups are a priority here at TP. They make up a sizable chunk of Philadelphia’s technology community, and thus, our coverage. DreamIt Ventures Demo Day took that intensity and put it into a day-long event. We handed out awards to those that stood out.

The birth of Philadelphia’s video game scenePhiladelphia has a video game development scene? You bet your thumbs it does. This report, filed by TP reporter Sean Blanda for CityPaper and co-published here, follows Videogame Growth Initiative’s push for state-backing for a stronger gaming industry in the city.

Startup Leaders hosts second annual Founder Factory to mixed reactionPhilly Startup Leaders held its second Founder Factory event, giving local entrepreneurs a chance to mingle with one another and to hear stories of success from some leaders in the community. No doubt a great resource for locals considering starting their own companies, some at the event questioned if the event was a successful follow-up.

BarCamp indicates that Philly is ready for next step, but will it happen?BarCamp attendance exploded this year to more than 250, including audience members that traveled from Florida to participate. We noted that topics were more diverse and more specific, delving into important topics, like the future of Philly’s technology community. “Philadelphia tech scene is ready for its coming out party. It’s ready for other cities to view it as a destination and it’s ready to produce some quantifiable results in the language of companies and jobs,” we wrote.

Ten Philadelphia Web sites then and now The most entertaining site on the Web? Internet Archive. It powered this feature comparing today’s popular local online destinations, like Temple.edu, Philly.com and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation’s GoPhila.com with their 1999 counterparts.